Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Friday, October 31, 2008

There's not a lot that separates most Southern biscuit recipes from each other. They all include flour, buttermilk or milk, and some kind of fat - but there are a few southern secrets that'll help you make the best homemade biscuits ever, including using the right southern biscuit flour.

Classic 3-Ingredient Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Perfect, light and fluffy, homemade buttermilk biscuits used to elude me until I learned a few "secrets" and I have perfect biscuits every time now.

Hand Formed Biscuits

You don't have to use an iron skillet - I just like the crunchy bottoms that it produces, sort of like how we like to do our cornbread Down South.

Iron Skillet Biscuits

Of course baking them spaced apart on a cookie sheet or touching one another in a cake pan works perfectly fine also - the first producing more crunch all around, and the latter producing soft sided biscuits.

Joe D: I tried your Perfect Southern Buttermilk Biscuits recipe this morning. Outstanding tips. These were the best biscuits I've ever made. Thanks for the tips.

Now, I'm gonna let you in on my most important, secret tips to getting those perfect Southern buttermilk biscuits.

The Secrets to the Best Ever, Perfect Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Secret #1 - Preheat the skillet. Just as you do with Southern cornbread, coat a cast iron skillet or with shortening, or butter or spray a rimmed baking sheet or cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat it in the oven just like with cornbread for about 5 minutes.

Secret #2 - Use very cold, self rising flour, and for the best biscuits, use a soft, winter wheat flour - like White Lily brand - and yes, it does make a difference! Just stick the flour in a bowl in the freezer the night before you plan to make biscuits. Do not substitute all purpose flour.

Secret #3 - Use very cold fat from the refrigerator. It can be lard, vegetable shortening or pure butter, but my preference is butter. If using butter, cut the very cold butter half into cubes. Cut into the flour first using two knives or a pastry cutter until crumbly. When first learning to make biscuits avoid using your hands.

Secret #4 - Use buttermilk. Real buttermilk, not a vinegar and milk substitute. All good Southern biscuits contain real buttermilk. Period. If you don't tend to use buttermilk in your cooking, it will keep awhile, so just keep practicing on your biscuits with it and put some up in the freezer.

Secret #5 - Cold dough. Remember, a successful fluffy and light biscuit comes from keeping the dough cold and not handling it too much. The heat from your hands will melt the butter, so until you get to the point where you can literally mix and shape biscuits in about 5 minutes, use a gentle and soft touch because you do not want the dough to get warm!

Secret #6 - Folding. After quickly kneading, push the dough into a rectangle and fold the short sides in toward middle one on top of the other. Turn the dough, shape into a rectangle again and repeat. Repeat this folding once more for a total of three times and pat into desired thickness, usually about an inch or less. If you cut the biscuits too thick, they will quickly rise and lean over. The dough folding action creates flaky layers in the biscuits.

Secret #7 - No twisting! Use a cutter about 2 to 3 inches in size, cut them very close together and take care not to twist the biscuit cutter, whether it be a cutter or a juice glass, but only push down and lift up on the cutter. Twisting will cause the fibers in the edges of the biscuit to close and result in a flatter and more dense biscuit. So just press down and lift up - no twisting!!

Secret #8 - Spacing. I like to do my buttermilk biscuits in a skillet, like I do my cornbread, which produces a crunchy crust on the bottom and soft edges. You may also bake them on a half sheet, rimmed baking pan or in a small greased cake pan. For biscuits that have more crunch all the way around, space them about an inch apart from each other. For soft biscuits, place them close together.

Secret #9 - High temperature. Bake your biscuits in a preheated 500 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Coat a 10 inch cast iron skillet with additional shortening or oil and place into the oven for 5 minutes. Put the flour into a bowl and cut the very cold butter into cubes and toss in the flour. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until it is crumbly. Add buttermilk and use a fork to mix very lightly. Dough will be very shaggy.

Put a bit of additional flour on the countertop and scoop dough out. Sprinkle a small amount of flour over the top and gently push together to form a rectangle. Do not overhandle the dough. Take the short sides of the rectangle and fold them in toward the middle, turn the dough, gently press down into a rectangle again and repeat. Repeat this folding once more and pat into desired thickness, usually about an inch. This folding creates flaky layers in the biscuits.

Using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a small juice glass, cut out into rounds, taking care not to twist the cutter and gently gather scraps for the last biscuits. Transfer biscuits to the prepared skillet or baking pan and bake at 500 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown on top and cooked through.

Herbed Biscuit Variation: Add up to 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped herbs. Good choices include sage, chives, parsley, dill, thyme, or a combination. Reduce to about 2 teaspoons max if using dried herbs. Make biscuits a smaller tea size for a potluck, church supper or a party and fill with Chutney Chicken Salad.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

Do you preheat your cast iron skillet prior to baking? I know they get hot and I do preheat for cornbread. I have thouroughly enjoyed your blog--thank you for sharing the wonderful recipes. I finally found the "Slap Yo Mama!" at the local Food City! I was thrilled and it makes a difference! Thanks again!

Yes, when I want the crunchy bottom on my biscuits I use the cast iron skillet and I do preheat it the same way like I do in the cornbread link. I guess I should specify that here too in case people don't click over. If I use a regular cake pan for soft biscuit bottoms I don't of course.

So glad you found the SYM!! It is a fantastic seasoning in my little ole opinion and I think it's becoming a bit more widely available now.

Oh my I am in heaven! All my favorite foods on one web site! My mother was from LA and was a great southern cook. She died when I was young, and we moved up north, but I have never forgot her cajun cooking. I have never had so much fun looking at recipes. I AM MAKING GUMBO THIS WEEKEND! God Bless you all.

Your site is one of my favorites for good recipes that everybody always enjoys. I have long been searching for buttermilk biscuit recipe! Your other recipe for biscuits with the sprite is my fave! Thanks

My Granny used to "pinch" her biscuits out of the dough. She used an old cookie sheet that had blackened with age, much like that of a cast iron skillet, to bake them. They were perfect every single time.

This is very similar to how I make my biscuits. White Lily is indeed the best biscuit flour. The only real difference with mine is that I use lard rather than butter. There is nothing better than lard for making light, flaky biscuits, pie crusts etc. I keep my lard in the bottom of the refrigerator to keep it ice cold. Thanks - Steve

Perhaps I'm just stupid, but when I followed this recipe (1/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 2 cups flour) the dough was so dry and crumbly as to be unusable. I tossed it out and used more butter and buttermilk, and made some darn fine biscuits. I'm surprised, as this is the first recipe I've used from here that hasn't worked out beautifully. Everything else has been stellar.

Same here!! I'm so tired of trying biscuit recipes that don't work or aren't tested by the BLOGGER before getting my EMAIL address! As a cook the first thing I thought about with this recipe is HOW IS IT GONNA RISE??, but tried it anyway SINCE THE PICTURE looked so DELICIOUS! Epic FAIL!!

Well, now, do you feel better fussing Victoria?? If you're biscuits are failing, and especially if they failed with this recipe and these tips, then you cannot fault me.

First off, what you see pictured is biscuits made with this exact recipe, let me get that straight. Second, every recipe here IS indeed tested by me, myself and I and I stand by everyone of them.

I can say with 100% certainty that you did not follow the recipe because you clearly used the wrong flour. The recipe specifically calls for self rising and I'm betting that you like Jesse used all purpose.

As a cook you must surely know that self rising contains the leavening for rising. All purpose does not.

But hey, thanks so much for stopping by, buy self rising flour next time and maybe you'll come back by when you get beautiful biscuits and apologize for your uncalled for and unsupported rant, which I went ahead and published anyway and responded to, without SHOUTING at you.

I hope you have a Happy New Year darlin'... sounds like you need a little less stress in your life.

Hey Jesse! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment. I do have to say I've made this recipe many, many times and I stand by it. The pictured biscuits are from this exact recipe & I've had plenty of compliments about them so assuming you followed all of the tips, you probably just needed a bit more buttermilk.

The only other complaint I ever had, the guy had not made biscuits before and used regular flour, not self rising flour. Nothing in there to give the rise so you can imagine that was a disaster. Truly the secret to perfect biscuits is actually more about the tips than the measurements.

As far as the dough being crumbly, it shouldn't be. The buttermilk may at times have to be adjusted a bit due to many factors including temperature, even whether it is raining, or if it's high humidity. All can affect moisture needs in any dough. As you get to making biscuits regularly you can just look at it and tell, so you'll be expert at it in no time. The dough should be shaggy, but definitely not dry or crumbly.

Why throw it out though??? Why not put it back in the bowl and just add more more buttermilk?!

Tony's is a fine seasoning but I prefer the blend in Slap Ya Mama. They are pretty similar, but I tried SYM a few years back and I think it's a better blend for my taste. Either will work in any of the recipes where I call for Cajun seasoning, except where I specify I have used something like Zatarain's Big & Zesty, which is a bigger flake seasoning.

I have kept this mix (minus the buttermilk) in a tupperware container for up to a month in the frig and mix up a batch as needed. With a family of 7, it saves me time. No question butter in bisquits is better. Thanks Mary!

MMM I love homemade bisquits... My Grandmother use to make the best bisquits ever and she taught me how to make hers... But I also remember her frying up some ham and making red eye gravy .... unfortuneedly I forgot how to make the gravy. Would you happen to have a good recipe laying around?

Sure thing Robin! First thing you do is fry up slices of country ham - has to be country ham, nothing else! This is usually made with leftovers but you can also find packaged slices of it in the ham case at the grocery store. Don't overcook it though - it can get too tough otherwise, just cook it until it's softened and cooked through. Remove & set the ham aside & in the fat that is left behind you’ll stir in some sugar and coffee, or coffee and water. Packaged country ham slices are usually trimmed pretty well of fat, so use some oil or butter in the skillet if you need to, to cook the ham or if it didn't leave much fat behind. Stir in the sugar - 2 or 3 tablespoons is plenty to me but you may like more or less. Can be regular granulated or brown sugar, whatever you like. Then stir in some cold leftover coffee to the skillet, about a cup to a cup and a half or so and bring to a boil. If you don't like the strong flavor of coffee you can also use a combination of water with less coffee. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Let mixture low boil until it thickens and reduces by about half. Might take 10-15 minutes. Everything can be adjusted to taste of course, but that's the basic process. Country ham is pretty salty, so don't add any salt until you taste it first. Drizzle the gravy over the ham slices and eat them with some eggs and grits with biscuits on the side, or just tuck those slices right into these biscuits - that's my favorite way. Enjoy!

I've not seen White Lily Self Rising flour for sale up here in MA. If I make the adjustments given in my Mississippi Cookbook, for converting a recipe using all purpose flour, instead, would this recipe still work?

Your blog is such a treasure! Every time I look I find something else I want to make, including these biscuits! SO and I have been so disappointed since we moved north and not found one good biscuit, these are exactly what we wanted! They are in the oven now. Thank you!

Hi Susan - White Lily makes the best in my opinion of course, but using those guidelines should give you a very nice biscuit also. If you can use half cake flour along with your adjustments that will help soften the flour up.

To the lady that can't get White Lily where she lives, I can't get it here in South Central Florida either. I'm from Alabama and I only use White Lily Flour and Cornmeal. I order mine directly from Smucker's. Google White Lily and look for the Smucker's link. Yea, you pay a little more and have to pay shipping, but oh so worth it. I order several and freeze them.

You can also get White Lily flour from Amazon. The last time I bought it, it was a 2-pack (of 5# bags). Have to pay for shipping though. I'm going to check the Smuckers site to see which way would be cheaper.

Thanks for the great site. I just discovered you. I'm a total Northerner but am learning and trying Southern food. Your site is going to teach me!

Biscuits like these are very good, no doubt. Recently a friend had her pigs processed and she rendered the fat for lard. Someone told her to make her biscuits using the lard instead of shortning or butter and she tried it, then told me about it. I made some and they were the lightest, fluffiest, best textured biscuits I have ever tasted. I know that lard gets a bad name, but recently I've heard that medical experts are saying they are finding lard to actually be better for you than shortning. Anyway, I thought you might want to give it a try. Great blog by the way. I'll be back. I'm pinning you on my Pinterest boards.Thanks!

Thanks for the pin Missy! As to lard, yes I definitely agree - though I find most folks are more likely to have and use vegetable shortening without as much objection. When the rest of the tips are followed, vegetable shortening still produces a wonderful biscuit. Thanks for stopping by & I look forward to more visits from you!

I love the way a hot cast iron skillet makes the bottoms of these crispy. Delicious! I make a skillet of these in the morning, and my kids swipe a biscuit every time they walk through the kitchen (They get it honest, I used to do the same thing as a kid--and still do it now)!!! The buttermilk really makes a difference, it's a must-have for great biscuits. I love your blog, Mary. I visit frequently, and have enjoyed everything so far! Your recipes use everyday ingredients, and having been a Mississippi girl all my life--they are TRUE southern dishes. THANK YOU!!

In order to get 8 biscuits from this, do you re-pat out the dough and cut a second set from that? I barely managed to get four when I made it (using a 3 in. glass and patting the dough to just under an inch thick). Nonetheless, these were fantastic biscuits!

You're so welcome Ayanna!! Homemade biscuits can really be intimidating but all it takes is a few tips to get there. I'm so glad that you conquered it! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know - I appreciate that!!

Mary, I absolutely love your blog and Facebook page. You have the best recipes I've found anywhere. Real country cooking is what I prefer and your recipes are truly "Southern Cooking". I appreciate the Ziplist link with each recipe, I wasn't aware of it until I found your site. Now I have many recipes located there which makes finding them very convenient for me. Now to the biscuits, I've been trying to find the right recipe for years and found one that's very similar to this one that's okay. I read this post after I found you on Facebook and started using cold flour, butter and milk and was wondering why that makes a difference? I normally make a batch, bake a couple and freeze the rest. The fresh one's are always good but when I bake the frozen biscuits they don't rise as much. How could I correct this? Thanks so much for sharing your great recipes, I greatly appreciate them and especially the posts you write along with each one.

Using cold ingredients has something to do with the point of separation of the butter solids from the water. Once butter reaches a certain temperature, and for butter that is still pretty cool, it begins to break down and whatever you're making will want to spread, rather than rise. Great for cookies, but not so great with biscuits. When very cold butter holds air better and helps the rise.

I'm not sure on the frozen biscuits though, because I rarely freeze dough, just leftover already cooked biscuits, but I'm guessing if they aren't rising as much, that separation of the fat in the butter has already occurred maybe? If that's the case, even freezing won't help that. Once the fat separates it doesn't go back together, so I'd say work with very cold ingredients and get the ones you want to freeze into the freezer as soon as you cut them out and before you bake the ones you want fresh. That way they get frozen before the butter has time to warm much. Stick them on a parchment covered tray to flash freeze. Getting them into the freezer faster may help!

Mary, I absolutely love your blog and Facebook page. You have the best recipes I've found anywhere. Real country cooking is what I prefer and your recipes are truly "Southern Cooking". I appreciate the Ziplist link with each recipe, I wasn't aware of it until I found your site. Now I have many recipes located there which makes finding them very convenient for me. Now to the biscuits, I've been trying to find the right recipe for years and found one that's very similar to this one that's okay. I read this post after I found you on Facebook and started using cold flour, butter and milk and was wondering why that makes a difference? I normally make a batch, bake a couple and freeze the rest. The fresh one's are always good but when I bake the frozen biscuits they don't rise as much. How could I correct this? Thanks so much for sharing your great recipes, I greatly appreciate them and especially the posts you write along with each one.

FINALLY!!! I have been 'practicing' biscuits (and other baking projects) for about three years, and only now, since I found your blog, have I produced the perfect biscuit. It is amazing that the best biscuit EVER is so simple.

Your tips are priceless; those are what make the real difference. Technique does matter. Thank you for sharing your talents! I cannot wait to try the other divine temptations you offer.

Not having read every single comment, I may have missed this, so please forgive the redundancy...I wonder about freezing the self rising flour...does that not kill the rising agents? Is there a time constraint on how long one can leave it in the freezer? Can I cut the butter into the flour, then freeze that? (so it will be ready for a really quick order).

I, too, live in an area deficient in grocery offerings. I wanted to try the White Lily, so ordered from Smuckers. I agree that it is well worth the price and effort. The flour is not really pricey, but shipping is a little more than a trip to the store. However, if you want to actually prepare your own food, and turn out a good product, you must have premium ingredients. Thanks for that tip!

Today, to ring in the new year, and to affirm my belief that resolution diets are a bad thing, I will try your Butter Bombs...gotta have a snack while we wait on the black eyes, right?

Oh Jeni! That last paragraph just cracked me up!! :) Most people who love using White Lily usually stock up on bags when they travel home due to that shipping issue. You can order a case from Walmart.com too but I'm not sure what the shipping is though I think it qualifies for free if you purchase a few other things. There may be other soft flours in your area - I just don't know. Look for "100% soft winter wheat" on the package. You can make a substitute also using half whatever brand of flour your have, plus half cake flour.

As far as freezing, it doesn't affect the flour. I store my baking powder and yeast in the freezer too! I just let it come to room temperature before using it. I don't store my flour in the freezer because it's usually full but I do put it in a metal bowl along with the butter and let it get good and cold, then cut it in when I'm ready.

Thank you so much for these detailed instructions. I'm a Northern-born girl cooking for a Southern-born husband and I NEED TO KNOW how to make biscuits properly! First time tried these today, not too bad a result. Very good recipe, I'm going to keep it as my basic. I just need to buy the right kind of flour, as I discovered there is a major difference in flours South vs North. Maybe once we move back South, I can find an elderly grandma lady to take pity on me and teach me to make biscuits the right way!

Just keep at it Sapphires & you'll have it down in no time. Until you can find a good southern flour like White Lily, you can make a substitute by mixing half self rising flour with half cake flour. Give that a try next!

I just made these, and they were so good! Unfortunately I did not have any White Lily on hand ... just some store-brand all-purpose flour, so I had to make adjustments and add baking powder & salt. I also didn't have any shortening or lard, so I couldn't get the bottoms crispy as pictured. But they were STILL good and probably the best biscuits I have ever made (and I've been married now for eight years and failing at biscuits the entire time until now!).

My next batch will definitely include White Lily flour and the use of shortening to get the bottoms like yours are. Can't wait! Thanks so much for this recipe, it is a keeper.

My mother was from Louisiana, too. However, my daddy said she only knew how to cook biscuits that came from a can marked "B." Remember the old Ballard brand, anybody?I never had homemade biscuits until I had those my mother-in-law made. Oh, my. Such a difference. So good.White Lily flower is not usually available in Shreveport. Usually use Gold Medal self-rising for my biscuits. Made them yesterday. They were so good with figs that I cooked on Saturday. Really good eating.I like the biscuits baked in the cast iron skillet, too.Love you site, Mary.

Oh my, what a disaster! Not because of your recipe, but because I cheated like crazy on the ingredients because that's all I had. I didn't have White Lily, I didn't have real butter, only margarine, and I only had low fat buttermilk - not sure if that matters or not. Anywho, let's just say I can't wait to get to the store and get what your recipe calls for. Thanks for posting this!!

Hi Mary. Just a tip for those of us who are biscuit cutter challenged and don't have to have round biscuits. You pat your dough out in a rectangle, and then use a pizza wheel to cut it into squares. I like it better that way since you can never get use all the dough each time when you use a biscuit cutter, and every time you roll up the scraps and pat them back out round the following biscuits are harder and harder.........

I have been trying to master biscuit making that are as delicious as my grandmothers biscuits for years now. Typically the biscuits came out OK, but they lacked something from my grandmothers. Today I was again searching online for biscuit recipes and happened to stumble across yours. I was tickled as I read your instructions because everything u wrote brought back memories of when I was a little girl, visiting my MawMaw, watching her effortlessly make her awesome biscuits. I immediately tried your recipe just a short while ago and....FINALLY I found a biscuit recipe that tastes/same consistence as my MawMaw! I just want to say thank you so much for posting! Can't wait to try some of your other recipes!

I have been trying to master biscuit making that are as delicious as my grandmothers biscuits for years now. Typically the biscuits came out OK, but they lacked something from my grandmothers. Today I was again searching online for biscuit recipes and happened to stumble across yours. I was tickled as I read your instructions because everything u wrote brought back memories of when I was a little girl, visiting my MawMaw, watching her effortlessly make her awesome biscuits. I immediately tried your recipe just a short while ago and....FINALLY I found a biscuit recipe that tastes/same consistence as my MawMaw! I just want to say thank you so much for posting! Can't wait to try some of your other recipes!

Mary, As a girl from the very Deep South (south Alabama), I learned to cook from some of the best cooks in the world. You know the kind. The ones who never use an actual recipe, but can literally make ANYthing taste good enough for royalty to eat. Ask for their recipe and they reply with, "I don't have a recipe, I just cook!" I usually cook that way as well. Last night, I was looking for a way to change up my chicken pot pie filling and decided to see how you made yours...and ended up on this page.I honestly have to say that I was a little skeptical when I read that you turn and fold the biscuits 3 times. I was taught that you handle biscuit dough as little as possible and to me that was a little much. I normally mix my dough quickly, then turn it onto a floured surface and only turn it over once. BUT, I decided to give your way a try.I used lard instead of butter, since thats what my grandmother always used...and I was out of real butter, and I didn't preheat my pan because I like a soft bottomed biscuit. I also used a cake pan this time instead of my iron skillet.Let me say that I have been making biscuits since I was 10 years old...or for nearly 39 years! These biscuits are delicious and are just as good as my grandmothers! My biscuits are good, but I never could get them exactly like hers...and these come pretty darned close! Thanks for the recipe and tips. It just goes to show you that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. ;)

Thank you Rebecca! I'm so glad that you gave my method a try. That folding helps add in layers of goodness!! I do cake pans often too - those cast iron skillets are getting harder and harder to manage these days.

This is very similar to the biscuit recipe I use. It's difficult to provide exact measurements on the buttermilk. The best description I've seen is to add buttermilk until the dough follows the fork when stirred in the bowl. If there is dry dough in bottom of bowl, add buttermilk a little at a time until all dough is moistened - a little liquid can go a long way.

I use a sheet pan and cook at 425 degrees since I prefer soft bottoms. Brush tops with melted butter after they rise and before they start browning.

Use White Lily Self Rising Flour and unsalted butter. Cut butter into flour the night before, cover bowl, and place into fridge. Saves time when making breakfast the next morning.

Biscuit cutter was my Grandmother's. No telling how old it is and how many biscuits it's cut.

So, I just made these for the first time and they were de-lish! I dont have the right kind of flour, but I was craving a biscuit so I decided to just go with it. I added in some baking powder and salt...and then followed your directions (coating my iron skillet in bacon grease though). They were awesome! I can't wait to try it again, but next time with the RIGHT flour!!

biscuits turned out great did not use White Lily as I am from Canada. Up here we have Brodie Self rising flour. I greased the aluminum pan with Olive oil and some of them burned so next time no grease. When I am in the US next time I will pick up some White Lily flour.

It was probably the olive oil that caused that. Since it doesn't have a very high smoking point for high heat, I don't recommend it, but for the crusty bottoms like in the picture you'll need to use a high heat like shortening, lard or a high temperature cooking oil. It's not at all necessary though. They are perfectly good biscuits just simply baked!

Lawd Have Mercy!!!! Miss Mary, you are a Southern Saint! I have tried for many years to make a delicious, flaky buttermilk biscuit but it has always eluded me....until now. I followed your recipe and technique to a "T" (except using Martha White Self Rising flour mixed with cake flour since stores don't carry White Lily in Texas). I just took a batch out of the oven and they are manna from heaven!

I keep biscuits in the fridge to make sandwiches to take to work (biscuits are faster to make than loaf bread) so I can't wait to see how good my ham biscuit will be tomorrow. I'm bettin' it's gooooood!!!! :) Thank you for sharing your secrets!!!!!

This evening was my first time making biscuits without whomping a can on the cabinet or using baking mix. I used margarine (out of butter) but followed all the rest of your advice. They were wonderful other than way too dark on top. That was my fault. I was busy making the sausage gravy and didn't peek in on my biscuits.

Because of my mom's newlywed experience, I always thought they were too hard to make correctly. 17 year old Montana girl married a boy from Oklahoma. She tried to make biscuits for him and it was a major fail. He threw one against the wall and it bounced off intact. She never tried again. Shame on Dad's rudeness to his bride and her for giving up!

Here a couple of hints for single folks like me:1) If you only want to make a couple biscuits, the amounts are 1/2 cup flour, 1 Tbs butter, 3-4 Tbs buttermilk. After the folding, I just cut my tiny rectangle into a couple of squares.2) Another idea is to make biscuit kits for the freezer. That's what I'm doing tomorrow. Use the full amount of White Lily flour and butter. Divide it between 4 small baggies. Freeze buttermilk in portion cups with lids, 1/4 cup each. I found the portion cups (aka jello shot cups) with lids on Amazon and by the plastic forks at Walmart. Toss the baggies and portion cups in a freezer bag and store in the freezer. Defrost the buttermilk in the fridge stir it in to the flour mix baggie. Small scale perfection!

these are really good , I keep my butter sticks and flower in the freezer till I get ready to use them and I put my dough back in the freezer to chill just a little before I cut the biscuits out they come out good every time

Hi Mary, I've just come across your blog! I can't wait to read through it, I was looking for a biscuit recipe for dinner and got so distracted! Have you ever frozen already baked biscuits or raw biscuit dough? Any tips? I love to freeze things for later use.

Absolutely Carrie! Just prepare them all the way up to cutting them out, work quickly so they don't warm, laying them out on a parchment covered pan. Put the pan into the freezer right away to flash freeze. Once frozen solid, transfer them to a bag. Bake them from frozen - I'd lower the heat slightly to 475 maybe and give them 15 minutes or so. Not sure on the timing so keep an eye on them!

I usually use unsalted butter because that's what I have around the most, but I prefer to use salted for biscuits if I have it. There is some salt in the SR flour but if using unsalted I'll add a pinch of salt. If using salted butter I don't add any additional salt.

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Oftentimes what makes a recipe southern, is as much a state of mind as it is a matter of geography - Southerners simply decide a particular food is southern, and that's that." ~Rick McDaniel, Food Historian

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